Month: July 2010

With Bay Area public transit languishing, market forces have evolved a "shadow industry" solution: fleets of shuttle buses, operating outside of any agreement with public transit agencies, carrying employees between work and home with greater efficiency and comfort than Muni could ever hope to offer.

Put on your planning hat this week and join SPUR for several discussions about affordability issues and promoting economic vitality in the city. Then, hop on your bike for the last Gas-Free Friday. Here are this week's highlights:

Another city, another would-be transit-oriented development undermined by a glut of parking. This time it's Newton, Massachusetts, where plans are underway to build 420,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail, and 190 units of housing at the Riverside terminus of Boston's Green Line, the highest-ridership light rail line in the country.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.PBS examines Compromise in Works That Would Keep Supes’ Muni Reform Measure Off Ballot (SF Examiner) Muni Sees 90 Percent Success Rate in Federal Review (SF Examiner) Mayor Newsom Proclaims: “We Are the Biggest Green City in America” (Bay Citizen)  Coco Times Columnist: Decision to Appoint Arbitrator … Continued

The San Francisco Police Department has arrested two men allegedly involved in the theft and fraudulent selling of Muni late-night transfer tickets, a practice that deprives the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Muni, of thousands of dollars a week.

Michael Helquist at Bike NOPA has another update to the Fell Street Arco bike lane saga. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has striped new arrows in the curbside lane that they hope will compel drivers to move out of the bike lane and have dashed the bike lane.

Pittsburgh area residents are reeling from the news this week that their transit agency, the Port Authority of Allegheny County, may cut 35 percent of its total service in January -- and raise fares -- unless the state of Pennsylvania can come up with new funding for transportation. The massive amputation would come on top of a 15 percent cut three years ago, reducing the transit network to a shadow of its former self.

Sorry, Streetsblog readers, due to a technical glitch, these headlines didn't show up at 9 am, when I published them. Mea culpa - Matthew

At last night's community meeting, held by Target execs interested in opening a store at Geary and Masonic, there wasn't a NIMBY in sight. Instead, the prevailing sentiment was, "YIMBY: Yes! In my backyard! How soon can can you move in?"